


Love Me Tender, Love Me Sweet

by TurquoiseDragon



Category: Wicked - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1950s, F/F, Greaser Elphaba, Preppy Galinda, a little fluff too though, its gonna be pretty angsty tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2019-11-28 04:31:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18203564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurquoiseDragon/pseuds/TurquoiseDragon
Summary: Greaser Elphaba and preppy Galinda shouldn't fall for each other, but the heart doesn't always pay attention to what should or shouldn't happen.





	1. Chapter 1

_“You ain't nothin' but a hound dog_  
_Cryin' all the time_  
_Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit and you ain't no friend of mine”_  
_Hound Dog - Elvis Presley (1956)_

Elphaba held her head high. She didn’t even have to look behind her to know that people were staring. Eyes followed her everywhere she went, but she was used to it. That didn’t mean she liked it though. It seemed that most people took pride in looking the same as the rest these days, with the girls in their saddle shoes and the boys in their sweater vests. Unfortunately for Elphaba, it was difficult to blend in when you had green skin and a preference for leather jackets and slicked back hair. Not only was it difficult to blend in, it was difficult to do anything but stand out. So, Elphaba tended to avoid certain people, namely the group of people she knew was staring at her right at that moment.

She wasn’t scared of them, if anything she was sure they were scared of her. She just didn’t trust them. They were a vicious group, but that’s probably how they got to be ruling the school in the first place. They were a small group too, and they seemed to be headed by Galinda and her boyfriend, whatever his name was. Elphaba simply didn’t care. Galinda was, no doubt about it, the queen of the school. Elphaba could understand why. She was pretty, really pretty, and dating the quarterback. Rumor had it they had been going steady since the seventh grade.

In Elphaba’s opinion, Galinda was an odd one. She seemed nice, maybe a little mean but nowhere near as bad as the rest of them. She was smarter than all of them too. Elphaba often wondered why Galinda hung around people like that.

She could hear them talking behind her, and damn if it didn’t sound more like yapping from a pack of little dogs. Especially Pfannee, Elphaba was sure it was her when her howling laugh cut through the voices of the other students. Hopefully, it wasn’t directed at her. Elphaba wanted nothing more than to just get to her last class of the day and then get home.

“Do you think Greenie dumped a bucket of grease on her head _on purpose_ this morning?”

Laughter ensued from the group, and from the others nearby who seemed to orbit around them like that new satellite, Sputnik, orbited the earth.

Great. It was about her. She kept walking.

“Hey, Greenie? Did you do it on purpose?” Called someone else, a guy this time.

She felt someone shove her shoulder. She tried not to stumble and elbowed whoever it was in return, hard.

Someone shoved her again.

“Hey. Greenie. Answer me.”

She spun around.

“I have a name, you know.”

They all just laughed. It wasn’t hard, now that she was turned around, to figure out who had pushed her. Galinda’s boyfriend, whatever his name was.

She crossed her arms, staring them down. One of the girls stopped laughing. Was it Galinda? She looked. It was.

“Feeling tough, greaser?”

“Maybe,” she replied nonchalantly, shrugging and raising an eyebrow.

She wasn’t at all as calm as she acted. She got into fights, sure, but it still hurt to get punched by jerks as big as this one.

His hand clenched to a fist, she stared him down.

“Come on, you’re not going to fight a girl, are you?” Asked one of the guys on the side.

He looked away.

“Well, she dresses like one of those guys,” Pfannee argued.

“Still a girl.” He laughed like it was just a big joke. “As if I’d fight a girl.”

“Why, scared?” Elphaba asked.

His eyes practically started glowing with anger and seconds later she felt the punch. She was going to have a black eye afterward, she was sure of it.

She punched back, getting his nose. They went back and forth, but it wasn’t long before someone started yelling for them to stop. Surprisingly, the boy did, although he didn’t let her go from where he held onto her collar. She shoved him off.

Elphaba looked to see who stopped him. Galinda.

“Chuffrey, you know you’re coming to dinner with my parents today! What do you think they’d say if you came looking like you’d just been in a fight!”

Chuffrey, right. So that was his name.

“Baby, come on, I-”

“No. Let’s go.”

The bell rang, and seemingly reluctantly, he left.

“Why are you suddenly friends with Greenie?” Elphaba heard one of the girls ask.

“Trust me, I’m not. But you know how my parents are.”

They laughed.

Fair enough, Elphaba thought. Galinda was no friend of hers either. Elphaba brushed off her jacket. She turned around to go to her next class. It was biology, her favorite, and she knew it would calm her down some. Her adrenaline from the fight was still high. She had the class with some of her friends, too, which was always nice.

She missed the sad look Galinda gave her as she walked away.

She was a little late getting to class, she still had to stop at her locker for her books, so by the time she got there most of the seats in the back had already been taken. At least the only person in the class from Galinda’s group was Galinda herself so there wouldn’t be too many problems, even if Galinda was sitting right behind the only open seat.

She grabbed a seat at the front by Crope and Tibbett, who must have moved when she hadn’t shown up on time. They had sort of drifted together as friends over time. That sort of thing just happened among people like Elphaba, the perceived outcasts of the school. Perceived, because although the majority dressed in that preppy way like Galinda and her group, there were quite a number of people who didn’t. This was true outside of school as well.

As class started, Elphaba started to zone out. She felt like she already understood the concept. Suddenly, she was jolted out of her daze when something hit her in the back of the head. It bounced to the side and she saw what it was: a folded piece of paper. She ignored it. Soon another one came, then another and another. This time, one landed on her desk. She brushed it to the floor, turning to shoot a glare at Galinda, who she knew had to have been throwing them. She papers stopped. Honestly, what was Galinda’s deal anyway?

The class soon ended, and Elphaba was more than happy to get home. Crope stopped her before she could though.

“You’re coming tonight, right? To that party?”

She nodded.

“Where is it again?”

He gave her the address. She wasn’t the type to go to big parties, or those strange parties most of the school seemed to be fond of, but she did sometimes like the smaller get-togethers her friends would have. Beer, conversation, and loud rock and roll from the jukebox. It would help her take her mind off the fight and what she was going to do about her black eye.

She left quickly after that but still made it to her car after her sister. Nessarose was already sitting by the door to the passenger's side, idly fidgeting with the hem of her long skirt. She dressed like the rest of them, but Elphaba didn’t blame her. It seemed hard enough already to be in a wheelchair, so she could understand why Nessarose didn’t want to be stared at for her clothes too.

“You’re late.”

Elphaba smiled.

“Nice to see you too Nessa.”

She helped Nessa into the car, storing her chair in the trunk. She ran a hand appreciatively along the side of her car. She drove a beautiful red Thunderbird, and it had taken her forever to save for it.

She got in, starting it up and leaving the school parking lot.

“What happened to your eye?”

“I got in a fight.”

Elphaba turned on the radio, and music filled the car. She hoped it would clue Nessa in to her not wanting to further discuss it.

“Father’s not going to like that. He hates when you get in fights.”

Apparently, Nessa had not gotten the hint.

“Father hates a lot of the things I do,” she replied in an unbothered way.

It was true. He didn’t approve of her hair, her clothes, her decision to stop going to church with the rest of the family. And the parties, the music she listened to, her friends. Pretty much everything that made Elphaba herself was something Frex disapproved of.

“Fabala, that is not a good thing!”

Elphaba just laughed. Nessa dropped the subject, instead telling her about something that had happened that day.

They were home before long. Elphaba helped Nessa out of the car and back into her chair, then grabbed their books and took them inside. Frex was home, so she crept up to her room as quietly as possible. If he didn’t see her, he couldn’t see the bruise.

Once in her room, she was able to get a better look at her bruise. It was worse than she expected. Her verdigris usually helped conceal bruises to some extent, but this one was just too dark. She hoped it would heal quickly, but it seemed like it was made to last. She carefully prodded at it, hissing in pain. This bruise would need some ice.

She decided she’d get some later, though. Frex was downstairs, and she wanted to get her homework done early so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later.

She told herself to just forget about it for now and just focus on doing her homework and getting ready. After all, she had a party to get to.


	2. Chapter 2

_“I can see_   
_No matter how near you'll be_   
_You'll never belong to me_   
_But I can dream, can't I?”_   
_I Can Dream, Can’t I? - The Andrews Sisters (1949)_

Galinda sat at her makeup table, slowly brushing her hair. Her curls already looked perfect, she knew, but it was relaxing to repeat the motion again and again.

For some reason, she felt nervous about what was to come that later that night. Chuffrey was coming to dinner with her parents, and with the way he had been acting lately she felt like something was going to happen, she just wasn’t sure what.

She wasn’t worried about her parents, they loved Chuffrey, and had immediately approved when the two had started going steady. ‘As long as he makes our little girl happy,’ they had told her when she asked what they thought. And he did make her happy, they were good friends. Sometimes, though, she just wasn’t sure how she really felt about him. Partly because of how he acted, partly because… well, she couldn’t put it into words. Everyone probably felt like that, though, she assured herself.

She set her brush down. She checked her clock and realized she didn’t have much longer.

She didn’t have much to do, so she just leaned forward to rest her head. It had been a long day, and her mind kept drifting back to certain parts of it. Namely, the fight. She wasn’t sure why she had stopped it. Her excuse was that her parents would notice, but really they wouldn’t have found out. She knew from experience, her parents didn’t notice much.

During the fight, she just suddenly had the thought that she didn’t want Elphaba to get hurt. Yes, Elphaba. Not Chuffrey. This confused her.

She kind of liked watching Elphaba fight. It was amazing how she was so much stronger than she looked.

Galinda had tried to apologize for Chuffrey’s actions (or for not stopping things sooner, she wasn’t sure), but to her disappointment, Elphaba had ignored her notes. She wasn’t sure why, or why Elphaba had glared at her for it. Maybe Elphaba just hated her that much.

That was a new thought for her. She didn’t know many people who didn’t like her, or at least showed that they didn’t like her so openly. She supposed she could understand why, though. Her friends picked on Elphaba the most of anyone in the school.

That was probably her fault too. In short, Galinda was fascinated by Elphaba and had been since freshman year. Her green skin, her rebel attitude, everything. It was just like how her friends all loved James Dean. Nothing more.

She probably talked about Elphaba just a little too much to her friends, which made them just a bit suspicious. She had just really wanted to be friends with Elphaba, she was sure that was it, but someone like her couldn’t have a friend like that, so to cover things up she convinced everyone that she hated Elphaba and that the rest of them should too. That wasn’t her proudest moment, but it was too late now. She couldn’t risk her reputation over something like this.

She clasped her necklace just as the knock came at the door, and she ran down to go answer the door before her parents could get there first. Who knew what kind of things they would say.

She opened the door, and there was Chuffrey. He looked the same as usual, wearing the exact same outfit he had worn to school. She smiled to hide her disappointment, she had hoped he’d clean up at least a little.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hello, Chuffrey.”

He leaned in to kiss her but she turned away at the last second so he kissed her cheek instead. After all, her parents were right there! She wouldn’t let him kiss her much at school either, she didn’t want people thinking she was easy. She’d only let him kiss her on dates. Sometimes.

She heard a noise and turned to see her parents standing in the doorway. Right away, Chuffrey moved past her and shook hands with her father. They started up a conversation. It was politics, something she was very much interested in, but before she could go join in her father turned to her.

“Why don’t you go help your mother in the kitchen, Galinda dear?”

She sighed, heading over to her mother. She knew she should just get used to things like that. That was, after all, going to be her life when she was older. Hosting dinner parties, raising children, being the ‘model modern woman’ as it was often called. She had been told about what was expected of her for her entire life and she just had to accept it, as much as she disliked it. But it was guaranteed. Chuffrey came from a family just as well off as hers was, so if the two of them married she’d never have to work.

She was happy to find that there wasn’t much left to do in the kitchen. She carried the food to the table, and soon her father and Chuffrey came in to sit down.

The two of them were still talking, so she decided to finally join in.

“I see your point, but-”

Chuffrey cut her off.

“So, Galinda, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“What is it?”

He reached across the table, taking one of her hands in his. In the other, he pulled out a ring. It was thin and gold, with a small diamond.

Galinda’s eyes widened. Was this...? No, it couldn’t be, could it?

“Galinda, we’re young now, but I have no doubt that I want to marry you one day. Will you, when the time is right, marry me?”

She glanced over at her parents, both of which were smiling. She put on a smile too, though she wasn’t yet sure how she felt about it. Still, she replied,

“Yes!”

He put the ring on her finger, and her dad clapped him on the back. She studied it. Of course, she would have accepted, but as he had said, they were so young. Were they even ready for that kind of commitment? Well, it was what was expected of her, so she knew should follow through. Her friends were going to be so excited.

Galinda often wondered whether or not he really loved her. He said he did, and she had no reason not to believe him, but if she sometimes doubted whether she loved him then he had to doubt how he felt for her, right? None of her friends seemed to feel this way. The only time any of them had doubted whether or not they loved someone was when they had started to like someone else. She wondered whether that was the case for her, but she couldn’t think of anyone else who it could have been, so probably wasn’t the case.

Suddenly, she remembered a dream she had had not long ago. She had been on a date with Chuffrey, but then, when he kissed her, he turned into someone else. A girl, she wasn’t sure who, but she did remember long dark hair… bursts of green...

Her eyes widened and her face flushed. Was that about...? No. Couldn’t be. It was just some silly dream, it didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t mean anything.

Her thoughts kept drifting back to Elphaba and the fight.

She was quieter than normal for the rest of the dinner, but no one seemed to notice. She tried to shake herself out of it but found that she couldn’t. She knew she’d have to be normal by the next day, so she kept trying. Soon enough, it was over and she walked Chuffrey to the door. This time, she let him kiss her goodbye. She pulled away quickly, though.

After they said their goodbyes, she went straight up to her room. Sitting on her bed, Galinda began to examine the ring. She wasn’t sure why she felt so conflicted about it. It was nice enough, but even though she loved jewelry normally it looked out of place on her hand. She was probably just in shock, she told herself. This had been what she had wanted for years, wasn’t it? So she should be happy. She tried to smile but saw in her mirror that it just looked fake.

It was late, but she didn’t feel like going to bed. She thought back to earlier when she had heard something about a party Elphaba was going to.

Maybe a party would take her mind off of things. If it was anything like the parties she frequented, she knew she’d love it. At the very least, it would give her a chance to talk to Elphaba about the fight.

While thinking about the fight, and Elphaba, she came to a realization. Was it Elphaba that she…? No, it’s couldn’t be. Could it? No.

She decided not to think about that.

She finished getting ready, putting on a warm jacket and opening up her window to slip out without her parents knowing. Hovering over the sill, she suddenly stopped, noticing her new ring. On impulse, she pulled it off and set it on her bed. Suddenly, she felt a whole lot freer.

She left the window, breathing in the cool night air as she set off to find the party.


	3. Chapter 3

_“Put your glad rags on and join me, hon'_   
_We'll have some fun when the clock strikes one_   
_We're gonna rock around the clock tonight_   
_We're gonna rock, rock, rock, 'til broad daylight_   
_We're gonna rock, gonna rock, around the clock tonight”_   
_Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & His Comets (1955)_

Elphaba was sprawled out on the couch, listening with amused interest as people recounted what they had heard through the grapevine about the fight that day. There were a range of rumors, apparently.

For some reason, though, not one of them seemed to mention Galinda stopping the fight. She wondered why. Not only that, but she wondered why Galinda had really stopped things. Sure, maybe it just was what Galinda had said, but was there something more to it? Elphaba had always had the suspicion that Galinda was nicer than the rest of her friends. That didn’t take into account the papers she was throwing, though, whatever that was about.

It had been a good party, she thought, taking another sip of her drink. The music played loud, and some people were dancing, but it was still a good volume for talking. She wasn’t one for dancing, so she stuck to talking. A good number of her friends were there to talk to anyway.

She realized her bottle was empty, so she got up to grab another one. On her way to the table they were kept on, she noticed something (or rather someone) out of place.

In a sea of black leather jackets and blue jeans stood a burst of pink. Galinda.

Elphaba wondered what she was doing there. This was the last place she had expected to see a girl like that. She frowned. Was this some sort of prank? Were the rest of Galinda’s friends nearby waiting to do something else?

She was even more confused to see Galinda walk over to an empty chair and sit down. What was she _doing_?

She was debating whether or not she should go deal with her herself when someone else stepped up before she could.

“What brings you here, dolly?”

A boy had come over, sitting down in the chair next to Galinda and throwing an arm around her shoulders.

“Oh, I-” Glinda started.

“Was just leaving,” Elphaba finished.

She grabbed Galinda’s hand, pulling her out of the chair and away from the boy.

Once they had gotten away from the boy and closer to the door, Elphaba realized that Galinda had stopped. She hadn’t let go of Elphaba’s hand.

“Thanks, but I’m not leaving.”

“It’s late. You should be getting home. Why are you here, anyway?”

“I came for the party, so I’m going to stay for the party.”

She let go of Galinda’s hand, even though a small part of her didn’t want to.

“I don’t think this is your kind of party. Why don’t you just go back to the little sock-hop you came from.”

She regretted the words when Galinda’s face noticeably fell.

“Are you sure you even want to be at a party like this?” She asked, a bit nicer this time.

Galinda glanced around, looking unsure of herself for a moment. Then,

“Yes,” she said, sounding more confident.

Elphaba was surprised but decided that as long as Galinda didn’t act like she did at school, then maybe it would be okay to have her there for a little while.

“Alright, then.”

She turned to go and leave Galinda be.

“Wait!”

A hand shot out and grabbed hers again. She turned back.

“I wanted to apologize for earlier. You know. I should have stopped it sooner.”

Elphaba was just plain confused now.

“Okay? Thanks, I guess.”

She went to let go and leave but Galinda stopped her again.

“Could I maybe sit with you here? I don’t know anyone else.”

Something was different about Galinda, and Elphaba honestly had no idea why.

“I guess…” she replied warily.

For some reason, it felt like Galinda was just pretending that nothing between them was wrong. Why? Yes, Galinda wasn’t the worst of the group, nowhere near it, but even though she didn’t always participate in the taunts she didn’t do much to stop them either. Elphaba, against her better judgment, decided to just give her the benefit of the doubt.

She went over to the drink table, bringing Galinda with her.

“You want one?”

Galinda looked over the table for a moment.

"I'll have one of the sodas."

Elphaba got one for each of them, opened the bottles, then went over to sit on a couch, away from everyone else this time since Galinda still looked like a nervous lost puppy playing at confidence.

“So, really, what brings you here? I don’t mean to be rude, but this doesn’t seem like your kind of party.”

Galinda shrugged, taking a sip of her drink.

“I don’t know, I guess I was just interested. I like the music?”

She said it as more of a question and Elphaba couldn’t help but laugh. Galinda was kind of cute.

“That’s good. Do you listen often?”

“Oh, no. Just today. But I do like it!”

They sat in silence for a moment, just listening. It seemed like Galinda was easing up, becoming more comfortable.

“I’d love to come to another one of these one day.” She paused. “If that’s okay, I mean. To hear the music. I don’t think I could ever listen to something like this at home.”

Elphaba understood that perfectly. Over the years she had mastered the art of quietly listening to her music without her father finding out.

“You could come with me again tomorrow if you’re not busy.”

Galinda smiled.

“I’d love to!”

They struck up a conversation about their shared biology class, and as they talked Elphaba began to think that maybe Galinda wasn’t so bad. Actually, she was kind of nice when not surrounded by her friends. And sure, they were different, but maybe it was a good different. Maybe, just maybe, they could be friends.

Galinda tilted her head, suddenly regarding Elphaba very closely.

“Your collar’s up.”

She reached out and smoothed the collar of Elphaba’s jacket down.

Elphaba laughed, popping it back up gesturing for Galinda to look at the others in the room. They all had their collars popped as well.

“I did that on purpose.”

“Oh,” Galinda giggled. “Well, it looks great on you either way.”

“Thanks,” Elphaba replied.

She felt herself blushing a little bit, and looked away in hope of hiding it. She had always been a sucker for compliments from pretty girls. Not that she’d ever willingly let it show. Especially with a girl like Galinda.

She suddenly noticed the clock.

“It’s already one?”

Galinda looked too.

“We have school tomorrow!”

The party was still in full swing, but a closer examination revealed to Elphaba that they were the only two high schoolers left. Everyone else was someone who didn’t have school tomorrow.

“Maybe we should get going. Did you drive here?” Elphaba asked her.

“No, I walked. I live nearby.”

“I can walk you home if you want” she offered.

“That would be great! I hate walking alone in the dark.”

The two of them got up, Elphaba waving goodbye to a few of the people she knew before they left.

“I had fun,” Galinda told her with a smile as they started their walk to her house.

Elphaba smiled back.

“Me too.”


	4. Chapter 4

“ _My friends say I'm actin' wild as a bug_  
_I'm in love_  
_I'm all shook up”_  
_All Shook Up - Elvis Presley (1957)_

Galinda fell asleep that night as soon as her head hit the pillow. It was, after all, much later than she usually stayed up. She woke up late the next morning, so she had to get ready quickly.

She couldn’t stop thinking about the party the night before. It was so different, but so _fun_. Her parents would never want her in a place like that, she thought with a quiet giggle. She felt _dangerous._

And Elphaba was so interesting. And funny. And smart. And attractive. She remembered how it felt to hold her hand and giggled again. She felt so carefree and happy, more than she had in a while. And she just couldn’t get Ephaba off her mind.

She grabbed her bag and was about to head out the door when she suddenly remembered what had happened last night before the party. She ran back to her room and grabbed the ring, putting it on and shoving her hand in her pocket. Her smile dimmed somewhat.

Not wanting to be late, she went out to her car and got in.

It was a short drive to school, so luckily she made it there on time. She stopped to go to her locker and found her friends waiting there for her.

“So? How was dinner with Chuffrey last night?” Shenshen asked.

Galinda smiled and held up her hand in reply.

Her friends all squealed when they saw the ring. They started talking about the ring, about how romantic it must have been, and how excited they were for Galinda and Chuffrey.

Galinda let her thoughts drift off to Elphaba while the others talked. She was wondering what the party they were going to that night would be like, and if it would be as good as the last one, when suddenly someone nudged her and she was jolted out of her musings.

“The bell rang, come on.”

Startled, she nodded and started to head to class.

“That must have been some proposal if you’re still acting like this today,” Pfannee teased.

She blushed, feeling caught. She realized now she did look very happy, but it had nothing to do with Chuffrey.

“It was nice.”

She wasn’t sure what it was about the night before that made her so happy like this. Nothing had really even happened.  
  
She went through her classes in a cheerful daydream, unable to keep Elphaba off her mind. She didn’t have many classes with her friends, for the most part she took higher level classes than they did, (not that she’d ever need the classes, she was sure), so she didn’t need to worry about more teasing.

Galinda did have a few classes with Elphaba, and couldn’t resist looking over at her whenever she thought no one would notice. Sometimes she even caught Elphaba returning the looks. She didn’t sit near or talk to her, though. She couldn’t, that would really make people talk.

She only came down from her clouds at lunch.

She had lunch with her friends of course. She went to go sit at a table with them as always. As soon as she sat down Chuffrey’s arm was immediately around her waist. She put a smile on her face.

“There’s the happy couple! Let’s see that ring again!” Shenshen squealed.

She obligingly held out her hand.

Pfannee leaned over to Chuffrey, loudly whispering.

“I’ve seen her in the halls, she’s had this grin on her face all day.”

Everyone at the table laughed.

“Yeah, Galinda. You’ve been acting funny all day.”

“What can I say?” Galinda replied. “I’m in love.”

She looked over at Chuffrey and noticed something over his head. Across the room sat Elphaba and her friends. They were all laughing about something. Elphaba was so cute when she was laughing. It took Galinda a moment to look away again and back at her friends.

Later that day, as she was getting ready for the party, she started to really think about what she was feeling, about the butterflies she felt every time she caught Elphaba’s eye. Did she really love Elphaba? Did she even like Chuffrey?

With Chuffrey, she knew she wasn’t entirely happy in the relationship, but she didn’t think there was much she could do about it. With Elphaba, what she felt didn’t even matter, no matter what the feeling was. She was with Chuffrey, and even if she wasn’t there was no way she could pursue something with Elphaba. Elphaba could only be a friend, she told herself.

She would probably just get over it soon anyway. It wasn’t necessarily new for her to feel like this about a girl, but she had never thought much of it. There was no point to thinking about it. With Elphaba, though, she really wished she could think more about it.

She dove under her covers to hide when she heard her parent’s footsteps in the hall. Soon, the head the lights click off and snuck out her window. It was colder than she expected, and she had forgotten to bring a jacket, but by the time she realized it was too late to turn back. She walked down to the end of the street, and just as promised, Elphaba’s car was there waiting for her.

“Hi!”

“Hi, Galinda,” Elphaba paused. “Nice ring.”

Galinda looked down, realizing that she was still wearing it.

“Wait, is it an enga-“

“It’s just a ring,” Galinda said quickly.

Elphaba started to drive.

“Chuffrey gave it to you?”

“Yes. It’s a cold night tonight, isn’t it.”

She wanted nothing more than to change the subject.

“Really? I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“Well of course you wouldn’t, you’re wearing that big jacket!”

Galinda playfully poked Elphaba’s shoulder.

Elphaba laughed, parking the car. Galinda’s butterflies had returned in a swarm, it seemed. She realized that they had arrived.

Elphaba pulled off the jacket.

“Do you want to wear it?”

Galinda quickly put the jacket on.

“This is so warm!”

Elphaba laughed.

“I’m glad you think so.”

Together, the two of them went into the party. It was like yesterday; they both grabbed something to drink, then went and sat down to talk and listen to music.

After a while, she noticed some people whispering and staring at the two of them. She nudged Elphaba to see if she had noticed too.

“Are they talking about me?” She asked, even though it was clear. Some of them had even pointed, and not very discreetly. “Do I really look that out-of-place?”

Elphaba thought for a second, then looked away.

“It’s the jacket. Usually, a girl wearing someone else’s jacket means something.” She paused. “It doesn’t have to though!” She finished quickly.

“What does it mean?”

“That they’re going steady.”

“I see.”

So it didn’t have to mean anything, but Galinda realized she wanted it to. She wasn’t supposed to think about it, she tried to convince herself once again, but she wanted to. And she wanted it to mean something _so much_. Even though it probably could never mean anything, she knew she had to do something, even if Elphaba could probably only be a friend.

  
She stood up and handed the jacket back.

“I need to go.”

She ran out before Elphaba could stop her. She needed to figure out what to do about it. She walked home as quickly as possible. She had an idea, but it was a rash one. She decided to sleep on it first.

The next morning, Saturday morning, when she woke up, she knew her decision was the right one. Not her decision to run away from Elphaba like that, but the decision on what she was about to do. She drove over to Chuffrey’s house, ring in hand, and knocked on the door.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it so far, let me know what you thought!
> 
> My tumblr for wicked is thewickedworkingsofyouknowwho


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